1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a unique product having the outward appearance of a conventional bagel, but having an axial ring of a filling material provided within the bagel dough shell. The invention further concerns a method and apparatus for converting an unformed quantity of a fairly heavy, tacky dough, i.e. bagel dough, into a plurality of uniformly sized and shaped filled bagel dough products having toroidal configuration. More particularly, the invention concerns to a method and apparatus by which conventional bagel making apparatus as found in most bagel shops can be adapted to making toroidal filled bagel dough products.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Bagels are formed from a very heavy, tough and elastic dough. In forming the dough before baking it, the dough cannot be over-worked, punished, or kneaded excessively, or it will not rise during the baking operation. The finished bagel should be seamless and should be uniform in thickness.
Various types of apparatuses for automatically forming dough into toroids for subsequent proofing and baking have been developed heretofore and are in use commercially. In one type of such apparatus, a continuous belt is drawn through a stationary tube having a dough forming mandrel positioned centrally thereof to form dough strips into a toroidal configuration. In these prior art apparatuses, the dough piece is placed into the forming zone between the mandrel and the conveyor, which is moving relative to the mandrel and is rolled, kneaded, and worked until it has extended circumferentially around the mandrel. An advantage of the belt type bagel-making apparatus is that the belt, associated mandrel and sleeve through which the belt passes can be switched on any particular apparatus to provide for the making of different size bagels. Such apparatuses are also generally less expensive to construct than the rigid cup type apparatuses discussed hereinafter.
A disadvantage of the use of a continuous belt/mandrel conveyor has necessitated the use of a generally complex conveyor apparatus and further, has resulted in excessive kneading and over-working of portions of the dough.
Another disadvantage of the belt apparatuses is that belts tend to wear out in anywhere from three to six months"" time. In addition, the length of this type of apparatus is fairly long in order to allow for the closing and opening of the belt as it approaches and leaves the forming sleeve within which the toroid bagel dough products are formed.
Other types of prior bagel-making apparatuses have used metal forming cups which are manipulated by the apparatus as opposed to the use of a belt for forming bagels as mentioned above. One approach is shown in the Ritter U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,142 where a plurality of half cups are provided on two opposed conveyors arranged so that the cups come together around a stationary mandrel to form dough therebetween. Another approach has been to use a single conveyor having metal cups of cylindrical configuration which are themselves articulated by virtue of being in three relatively hinged rigid pieces which are guided during the forming operation by associated tracks as the cups pass a stationary mandrel. Apparatuses for making bagels or other dough products in toroid configuration, employing metal cups, have the advantage of long life. However the metal forming cups from a practical standpoint must be coated with a plastic material so as to prevent the dough from adhering thereto. Sometimes the plastic coating on the cups tends to wear, and the cups must be removed for sandblasting and then recoating before being replaced. Also, while these metal cup forming-member apparatuses can be made in relatively short length for convenience of their location in a commercial bakery environment, they are limited to making a single size of dough product determined by the size of the forming cups.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,019 (Thompson) issued Jan. 11, 1983, discloses a dough receiving, shaping, and forming apparatus for making dough bodies of predetermined size and configuration. The apparatus generally comprises, in a single apparatus frame, an infeed conveyor for receiving a batch of unshaped dough, at least two pairs of shaping rollers, and a divider means to pre-shape the dough into two rectangular strips and a forming means. The forming means receive the individual dough strips and forms them into toroids or alternatively into dough balls of various sizes. The forming means comprise a large number of individual tubular cups mounted on a drive chain, each cup individually having an open position and a closed position. In use, a dough strip is placed into an open cup; the cup is then advanced toward a stationary mandrel. The cup is closed so that it forms a cylinder around the mandrel. As the closed cup advances along the length of the mandrel, the dough becomes rolled into a toroid shape. Once the toroid is formed, the cup is opened, and the formed toroid is removed for further processing. Unfortunately, this type of dough divider and forming apparatus is prone to mechanical breakdown due to the complexity of its design.
In the prior art, the dough is worked continuously by the dough-forming apparatus and, by virtue of the fact that these prior art apparatuses utilize a single piece of dough which is manipulated until it has elongated sufficiently to extend completely around the forming mandrel, tend to further overwork, punish, and excessively knead the bagel dough which again increases the risk that it will not rise properly during baking.
The above described prior art relates to homogeneous bagel dough products. The present inventor discovered various processes by which bagel dough and fillings of various sizes could be combined into a composite cheese filled bagel dough product, and these differently dimensioned bagel products could be processed and baked to preserve the filling. However, although the various products had desirable properties, each required a complex specialized apparatus and close monitoring, adjustment, and control in order to produce filled toroidal bagel products having a conventional appearance.
The addition of a filling material arranged in or between a dough piece constitutes an additional problem to the process of forming the toroid shape. When a filled dough product is deposited in a toroid forming apparatus having a mandrel, a rupture of the dough always occurs and the filling material is drawn out of the dough producing a big mess.
Accordingly, the present inventor felt a need for a simplified, economical, reliable, and easy-to-use process and apparatus for forming filled bagel dough products that are seamless and uniform in thickness. More particularly, to a method and apparatus capable of producing large quantities of uniformly sized and shaped filled bagel dough products in a relatively short period of time without changing the inherent desirable qualities of the dough by overworking and punishing it.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a filled bagel dough product which has the outward appearance of a conventional bagel, which has the chewy bagel dough texture of a New York style bagel, and which is filled in the core with an even ring of filler material such as meat, seafood, poultry, ham, bacon, cream cheese, sausage, hard cheese, egg, or a combination thereof.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for converting an unformed quantity of bagel dough into a plurality of uniformly sized and shaped filled bagel dough products having a generally toroidal configuration.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which is gentle to the dough, easily manufactured and operated, which has a relatively short length for ease of utilization in commercial environments, which is easily dismantled for cleaning or repair, which is provided so that it may be easily modified to make dough products of varying size, and has a long working life.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a filled bagel dough product, which can be consumed with great convenience, for example, while driving a car, while walking, while walking in a shopping mall, while viewing a sports activity, or while engaged in other activities.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known processes of forming a filled bagel in a traditional toroid shape, the present inventor discovered a unique method and apparatus to form a traditional toroid bagel shape that can be adapted to any existing bagel-making apparatus in a simple and inexpensive way.
Despite the apparent technical contradictions of forming a filled bagel dough product in toroidal shape, the present inventor discovered a method and apparatus that will produce a toroidal filled bagel dough product that is seamless and uniform in thickness.
Generally stated, the present invention includes a filled bagel dough product in toroidal shape that can be produced by a method comprising:
forming the bagel dough;
extruding the dough from a sheeting extruder to form a continuous dough;
cutting the sheet into a least one continuous ribbon having sides edges;
depositing a strand of filling material onto each continuous ribbon of dough;
conveying each continuous ribbon with the filling material onto a narrow conveyor belt having side edges;
drawing the narrow belt into a forming tube for forming a continuous cylinder, wherein drawing the narrow belt through the forming tube causes the narrow belt to curl upwards until the side edges touch and the narrow belt takes the shape of the forming tube and simultaneously causing the side edges of each continuous ribbon to contact and fuse and form the continuous cylinder;
cutting each continuous cylinder into logs, each log having a first end and a second end;
depositing each log transversely across a corrugated conveyor belt having intermeshing side edges; and
drawing the corrugated conveyor belt into a forming tube in which the sides of the corrugated conveyor belt curl up and intermesh so that the log is formed into a toroid shape.
The present application also comprises the apparatus for forming a toroidal dough product, said apparatus comprising in recombination:
a corrugated conveyor belt adapted for transversely transporting the dough product, the conveyor belt comprising side edges, each dough product comprising a first end and a second end;
a toroid forming tube, the forming tube surrounding at least one segment of the corrugated conveyor belt;
wherein drawing the corrugated conveyor belt through the forming tube causes the belt to curl up until the side edges intermesh and simultaneously causing the ends of the dough to come up, contact and fuse forming a toroid shape.
A more complete understanding of the present invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description of the present invention.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood and so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other toroidal filled bagel dough products for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.